SAFE CUSTODY

"That might do/' said Palm, rubbing his nose,
"All the same ... I quite see your point, Olivia.
But—well, Harris and your unde together will make
a pretty hot pair. And when I say 'hot/ I mean
'smoking/ If they got wind that you were outside
these walls . . /'

" We shan't sleep if you are/' said I, and meant
what I said.

Olivia looked at me sharply.

" And what of my name ? " she said. She turned to
Palin. " I suppose that's what you mean when you
say that you ' see my point/ I don't blame the others
so much, although I can hardly believe that England's
as lax as all that. But you know Austria. I broke a
good many rules when I shared your inn: but at least
I hid my name, and it was a public hotel. But to stay
with you here in this castle, for, possibly, two or three
months. . , . You must be mad. I'm not very proud
of my uncles, but Haydn's a pretty big name. Yet
if I did this, no peasant in all Carinthia would take
off his hat as I passed. Instead, they'd spit on the
ground. If I went to a farm and asked for a cup of cold
water, the farmer would try to kiss me, and if his
wife was there, she'd order me off the place."

There was an uncomfortable silence.

At length—

"We must shutter that window/* said Hubert.
"We'd better do it at once/'

162